Know about 'Chathura Payar' which is the best of legumes?

Winged bean, which is locally known as ‘Chathura Payar’, is one of the legumes that contains the highest quantity of protein. It contains about eight times more protein than inlong beansand beans and thirty times more protein than in carrot and spinach. It also is a rich source of iron, calcium, phosphorous, potassium and vitamins.

Winged bean is also called four-angled bean, Dragon bean, Manila bean or Goa bean. All parts of winged beans, such as the tender beans, flower, leaves and even roots, are edible.

Though it is highly nutrient, winged bean is not very popular in Kerala, because of its weird breeding habits. Winged bean requires the season when the daytime is shorter. Winged bean planted in July-August will start blooming in October-November.

However, if winged bean is planted in January, it will bloom only in October no matter how much it is grown. As this nature of the plant is not properly identified by the farmers here, they mistake it for infertility.

Winged bean plant. (Image: WikiCommons)

Planting method

Prepare flowerbeds at a distance of 2.5 metres.

Soak the seeds in water for six hours.

Mix cattle manure or compost in the soil.

150 grams of seeds are sufficient for planting in one cent land.

Seeds should be sowed at a distance of two feet.

Winged beans will climb to the support trees or fence nearby.

After three months of planting, blueish violet flowers begin to bloom.

Benefits of winged beans

The beans have wing-like parts on all four sides of it, hence the name winged beans. The tender beans are more delicious.

The plant is normally not affected by any disease, so those who once begin to cultivate it are not likely to leave it.

The plant is good for the soil also. The rhizobium on its roots will help increase the nitrogen content in the soil.

People who cultivate winged beans will get the benefits of vegetable development programme of the department of agriculture.

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